CHAPTER 411: CHAPTER 399: CHALLENGING ALL GODS_2

"Ares!"

Hera let out a sharp scream and rushed over in a panic to check on Ares. No matter how foolish her son was, he was still her beloved child.

She wanted so badly to raise her head and scold Hercules for being so ruthless, but then she remembered that her foolish son had been deliberately stirred up by Aphrodite and was the one to provoke first.

Nezha glanced at Hera, whose face was filled with worry, and comforted her, "Don’t worry, Divine Queen Wet Nurse. This foolish lad will be fine after some good food and a few years of rest."

In truth, if Nezha hadn’t held back at the last moment and redirected most of the force into the platform beneath Ares, Ares might well have turned into a puddle of Ares paste by now.

Hera examined Ares and confirmed that his life was not in danger—he only suffered comminuted fractures all over his body. "Only," my foot! While this might not be fatal for gods, Hera was still so heartbroken that she wept uncontrollably.

At this moment, she had no interest in Hercules’ trials; all she wanted was to take care of her son. Wrapping Ares in divine power, she left the duel arena without looking back.

All the gods were completely dumbfounded. Seven punches to take down Ares?

Several gods present prided themselves on being stronger than Ares, but even they couldn’t imagine defeating him so easily.

While everyone’s attention was on Hercules, Hercules’ focus was entirely on the space above Olympus. As he suspected, when he defeated Ares and completed the seventh trial, the spirituality of the heavens and earth flowed into his body like countless rivers merging into the sea.

The blood energy within him surged continuously, and Hercules’ power was multiplying with each passing moment. This world was indeed the trial ground designed by the Hongmeng Purple Qi to select its master.

It was like Nezha taking a math test—if he behaved and did it properly, he’d score 100. But now Nezha had ripped up the test, declared it too easy, and demanded an advanced calculus test. And after switching tests, he not only completed it but aced it as well.

The Hongmeng Purple Qi—this examiner—was overjoyed with Nezha’s eager pursuit of progress.

It didn’t even bother to show favor to Thor, who had skipped out mid-exam to flirt, sire children, and indulge in pleasures. It had zero goodwill toward such a slacker.

"Hercules, what are you doing?"

Zeus roared. Seeing what was unfolding before his very eyes, Zeus finally realized something was amiss. In this world, every god’s divine status was formed from the condensing of spirituality. When a god died, that spirituality would return to the heavens and earth.

But what was Hercules doing right now? He was absorbing and refining the spirituality, a process that permanently diminished this world’s resources. Even if Hercules died, that spirituality would not return to the heavens and earth.

Zeus, who had long regarded this world as his personal backyard, was understandably furious.

Nezha, however, couldn’t care less about Zeus’ thoughts. The two were destined to be enemies.

"Don’t worry, I’m just enjoying the fruits of my victory."

Hearing this term, Zeus, who was unaware of what was happening outside, narrowed his eyes. Could it be that his true self had discovered his duplicity and split off a new sub-soul to enter this realm?

After all, this world was located within his true self’s domain. Unless the main body had died, it was theoretically impossible for outsiders to find their way here.

Yet, the aura wasn’t entirely identical. It somewhat felt like him, but also didn’t, though the personality—especially the knack for provoking the opposite sex—seemed uncannily familiar.

Regardless, Zeus knew what he had to do: suppress Hercules. During his brief perception, he had already sensed an overwhelming threat from Hercules.

If this being was a sub-soul of his true self, then he needed to exert strict control to prevent any anomalies. If it wasn’t, then he’d simply kill him to eliminate the problem.

With a darkened expression, Zeus gazed at Hercules and said, "Young Hercules, since you are unafraid of the gods, let Poseidon take on the next round. Your cousin Ares has failed to uphold the dignity of a god; as his uncle, Poseidon will take his place!"

The Sea God Poseidon lacked Zeus’ insight and was unaware that Hercules had been strengthened several times over. He believed he could still put up a fight against the Hercules from moments ago.

"Alright, but if I win, I want more offerings."

Without hesitation, Zeus agreed.

"And if you win, I’ll grant you a portion of Ares’ territory."

Pleased with the stakes, Poseidon laughed heartily, leapt onto the duel platform, and readied his trident.

"Hercules, don’t think that beating that useless Ares means you can disregard the gods. The greatness of the gods is beyond your comprehension!"

Nezha had grown utterly tired of hearing such drivel. These Greek gods were always blabbering on about glory and majesty, seemingly oblivious to their own lack of restraint. Where was your glory and majesty when you were playing with octopuses?

"Why don’t you come and find out?"

Wave manipulation was Poseidon’s specialty, and he did have a trick or two up his sleeve. At the start of the duel, he immediately raised a towering wave to crash down on Nezha, blocking his advance.

Watching from the sidelines, Poseidon figured out a strategy to counter Hercules’ peculiar domain: don’t let him gather momentum or engage in close quarters. Surely, you couldn’t punch the ocean, could you?

The waves seemed to materialize out of thin air. Though not vast, they carried the force of a raging ocean storm.

Nezha showed no fear, exploding with radiant energy and punching the wave head-on, shattering it into droplets. But as he turned, another wave was already upon him. Nezha struck again, but the waves seemed endless.

Standing on the rising tides, Poseidon burst into laughter. "Hahaha, Hercules, is that all you’ve got? If so, then your failure is inevitable!"

With that, he hurled his Trident with all his strength—it glowed blue, brimming with the boundless fury of the sea as it streaked toward Nezha.

Just as Nezha shattered another wave, the sight of the incoming Trident caught his eye. Without hesitation, he sidestepped and grabbed the shaft of the weapon mid-air. The Golden Trident erupted with Poseidon’s divine oceanic power, crashing down on Nezha like towering tsunamis.

Nezha staggered several steps back, but soon stabilized himself.

Inspecting the Trident in his hand, Nezha couldn’t help but concede that its raw power far surpassed that of a certain Tang-named Sea God whose powers only amounted to breaking down city walls.

As the waves dispersed, the entirety of the duel arena was submerged. With a casual flick, Nezha planted the Trident in the ground before Poseidon.

"If that’s all you’ve got, I might just make you leave lying down today."

Poseidon was genuinely stunned. His full-strength strike had only forced Hercules back a few steps, and his Divine Artifact had been caught head-on.

Could Zeus accomplish such a feat? He wasn’t sure, but the other gods certainly couldn’t.

Ignoring Nezha’s taunts, Poseidon took a deep breath, grasped the Golden Trident once more, and declared, "Hercules, you’re strong, but don’t underestimate my millennia of accumulated power!"

At this point, Poseidon was no longer fighting for mere offerings or glory—he was battling as a warrior driven to defeat a worthy adversary.

The Trident shimmered with dark blue divine energy, surging with the might of the waves as it swept toward Nezha. Meanwhile, the surrounding Water Spirits surged to disrupt Nezha and weaken his strength.

One had to admit that Poseidon possessed exceptional combat wisdom. But against absolute power, no amount of strategy could prevail.

The swirling water streams sought to restrain Nezha, but as they neared, they were dispersed by the searing blood energy radiating from his body. Poseidon wielded his spear with precision, yet Nezha moved as if his body was covered in invisible eyes, anticipating and evading every strike.

And each of Nezha’s heavy punches left Poseidon’s arms numb. What was even more terrifying was that, unbeknownst to Poseidon, Nezha’s enigmatic domain was slowly expanding.

The most direct evidence? The surrounding seawater began resisting Poseidon’s control, and this resistance intensified over time.

Poseidon was starting to understand the frustration Ares had felt earlier. The push-and-pull forces of the domain were a constant torment to his body.

He tried to counteract with Vibrating Power, hoping to disrupt the field. But the seismic energy he invoked was directly absorbed by the domain—causing the field’s pull to grow exponentially stronger.